Humane treatment of animals prior to processing for food purposes has long been an important issue to animal rights groups, government agencies and consumers. Automated equipment has been developed to speed the processes used for killing and processing animals in commercial settings. This is particularly the case in poultry processing facilities where animals are typically suspended from a shackle line or similar conveyance assembly and mechanically transported through each of the processing steps.
Historically, animals were “live killed” meaning that they were not stunned or incapacitated in any manner. Because rendering an animal unconscious or otherwise incapacitating it prior to killing makes processing easier and clearly more humane, a variety of devices and methods have been developed to facilitate this processing step. Examples of methods commonly employed to render animals insensate include gassing, chemical exposure, electric shock, and blunt force. Each of these methods have problems, including a relatively high incidence of failure in that not all of the animals are successfully incapacitated, and some are actually killed or wounded by the incapacitation process. Moreover, each of these methods may result in damaging some of the animals to an extent that would cause them to be unfit for human consumption. The known methods can result in lost profits for the processor due to rework, downgrading or outright loss of product.
A stated goal within the poultry processing industry is that a minimum of 98 percent of birds be effectively stunned, with the bird being rendered insensate, at the time of killing. Achieving this goal utilizing known and existing methods is extremely difficult if not impossible.
It is therefore desirable to provide an effective, safe and humane method for incapacitating animals, particularly poultry, prior to slaughter. The instant invention overcomes the limitations and problems particular to the previously known methods, as identified above and commonly known in the industry.